VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Purshia mexicana var. stansburiana | Stansbury Cliffrose 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
Stansbury cliffrose is an important browse species for mule deer
[12,22,23,57,73], elk [57,63], pronghorn [80], desert bighorn sheep
[73], livestock [17,22,52], game birds, and songbirds [63].  Wild
ungulates and livestock use it heavily in winter; it is the principle
winter browse species on the Kaibab Plateau [39,73,90].  Livestock may
use it only lightly in spring and summer if deciduous browse species are
available [17,90].  Rodents eat Stansbury cliffrose seeds [102].

Elk and other large ungulates use Stansbury cliffrose for bedding cover
[15].


PALATABILITY : 
Although somewhat bitter, Stansbury cliffrose is generally palatable to
large ungulates.  Mule deer in Utah browse it preferentially [12,80].
Using tame animals, White and Welch [98] found significant (p=0.05) mule
deer preference for Stansbury cliffrose.  It ranked third in preference
out of 10 common Utah browse species.  Apparently there are ecotypic or
site differences in palatability, however.  In another palatability test
using captive mule deer in Utah, Smith [78] reported that Stansbury
cliffrose ranked only fifteenth in preference out of 32 browse species.
Blauer and others [8] noted that Stansbury cliffrose was unpalatable in
southern Arizona.

The palatability of Stansbury cliffrose has been rated as follows
[24,73]:

                           AZ        CA         UT

     Cattle               Good    Poor-fair    Fair 
     Sheep                ----    Fair-good    Good 
     Horses               ----      Poor       Poor
     Pronghorn            ----      ----       Good
     Bighorn              ----      Good       ---- 
     Elk                  ----      ----       Good
     Mule deer            Good    Good-excel.  Good 
     White-tailed deer    Good      ----       ---- 
     Small mammals        ----      ----       Good
     Small nongame birds  ----      ----       Fair 
     Upland game birds    ----      ----       Poor 
     Waterfowl            ----      ----       Poor


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
In-vitro digestibility of Stansbury cliffrose for mule deer on New
Mexico pinyon-juniper winter range was 37.6 percent [88].  Average
percent composition of Stansbury cliffrose in Utah was as follows [79]:

protein          8.4
N-free extract  52.6
crude fiber     23.0
ether extract   10.8


COVER VALUE : 
The degree to which Stansbury cliffrose provides cover for wildlife
species in Utah has been rated as follows [24]:

Pronghorn             Good 
Elk                   Fair
Mule deer             Good
Small mammals         Good
Small nongame birds   Good
Upland game birds     Good
Waterfowl             Poor


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
Stansbury cliffrose is recommended for wildlife [55], roadside,
construction, and mine spoils [35] plantings; and for restoring
pinyon-juniper woodland [26,35], mountain brushland, basin big sagebrush
(Artemisia tridentata ssp. tridentata)-grassland [35,83], black
sagebrush (A. nova), and black greasewood (Sarcobatus vermiculatus)
communities [64].  It can be established on disturbed seedbeds by
broadcast seeding, drill seeding, or transplanting.  Fall or winter
seeding is recommended [82,101].  Seeding treatment and planting density
recommendations are available [1,35,77,95,102], as are nursery and
transplanting recommendations for seedlings [1].

Case examples:  On degraded pinyon-juniper and basin big sagebrush range
in central Utah, Stansbury cliffrose production on plots seeded with
Stansbury cliffrose and other species was 1.4 pounds per acre vs. 0.4
pound per acre on unseeded plots [18].  

Near Manti, Utah, former pinyon-juniper woodland that had converted to a
dense cheatgrass stand was scalped, and scalps were seeded with
Stansbury cliffrose.  Stansbury cliffrose survivorship was substantially
improved with wider scalps.  Survivorship according to scalp width was
[29]:

                                     Scalp Width
                ___________________________________________________________
                4 in (10 cm)   8 in (20 cm)   16 in (41 cm)   24 in (61 cm)
# of cliffrose    
  surviving          5              13              19              59

Stansbury cliffrose production after 5 years ranged from 3,188 to 15,659
grams per 100 linear feet, depending upon scalp width.  Average number
of plants per 100 linear feet ranged from 25 to 150 [29].

Stansbury cliffrose germination/survivorship in a drill-seeded mixture
in silverscale saltbush (Atriplex argentea)-grassland in northwestern
Colorado was "relatively poor" [30].


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
Triterpenoids extracted from Stansbury cliffrose have been shown to have
inhibitory effects on HIV and Epstein-Barr virus [44,45].  

Native Americans used the inner bark for making clothing and ropes, and
the branches for making arrows [41].  Hopi used Stansbury cliffrose as
an emetic and a wash for wounds.

Stansbury cliffrose is used in ornamental landscaping [1,58].


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Stansbury cliffrose is moderately browse tolerant [65].  Plant form
tends to be more branched with moderate browsing than without browsing
[36,39].  Older Stansbury cliffrose plants that grow out of reach of
browsing animals can be a wildlife and livestock management problem [39].
Pruning out-of-reach branches can increase plant branching and
accessibilty to browsers [10].  In a 3-year study of Stansbury cliffrose
response to mule deer browsing on the Kaibab Plateau, Julander [39]
found that plants declined with over 80 percent utilization.  Seventy to
eighty percent utilization maintained plants but did not permit growth
or seed production; 70 to 75 percent utilization allowed some growth and
seed production; and plants utilized 45 to 65 percent showed good growth
and seed production.  Techniques to estimate percentage utilization of
Stansbury cliffrose are presented and evaluated in Jensen and Urness [38].

Stansbury cliffrose sometimes aids in fixing nitrogen [64,70,71].
Stansbury cliffrose is easily inoculated with nitrogen-fixing bacteria
in the laboratory, but root infection by nitrogen-fixing bacteria does
not always occur naturally [71].  Nelson [60] found that in the field,
the number of nodule clusters on roots differed from plant to plant,
site to site, and year to year.

Poor Stansbury cliffrose seedling establishment in the Great Basin,
especially central and northern Utah where Stansbury cliffrose is at the
edge of its range, has been noted since the late 1940's.  Factors cited
as possibly contributing to decline include climate change,
overbrowsing, succession, and poor ability of Stansbury cliffrose
seedlings to compete against cheatgrass seedlings for water [32,66]

Dozing, chaining, or cutting may kill older Stansbury cliffrose,
especially single-stemmed individuals.  Young, multistemmed individuals
are more likely to sprout after these treatments [95].

Related categories for Species: Purshia mexicana var. stansburiana | Stansbury Cliffrose